Saturday, 7 September 2013

It’s a tricky affair doing business on Lake Victoria

From The Citizen Daily, Dar es Salaam

By Miguel Suleyman

Sex-for-fish deals are the only way to ensure women in the region can get a regular supply. But is this how things should go?

A drop in the supply of fish in Lake Victoria has resurrected the notorious fish-for-sex deals known locally as “jaboya”. A survey at landing sites in Mara, Geita and Mwanza indicates a sharp rise in the practice since March, when the fish shortage picked up pace.

Local groups have tried to put an end to the shady deals, but matters are complicated by the way the system works and the players involved. “It is hard to curb the practice since it appears to be a survival mechanism for women” says Baraka Almas of a non-governmental organisation, Supreme. “It is a complicated system.”